Tarik Skubal takes loss in Dodgers debut as Los Angeles' season-high losing streak continues
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- Tarik Skubal made his Dodgers debut Tuesday against the Cubs and took the loss, but pitched a solid six innings with two earned runs on four hits, six strikeouts, two walks, and 13 whiffs on 43 swings.
- Dansby Swanson tagged Skubal for a solo home run — his 17th of the year — and later added a double that helped spark a two-run Cubs seventh.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong singled, stole second, and scored on a Seiya Suzuki RBI in the seventh to extend Chicago's lead, and Nico Hoerner homered in the eighth to make it 5-1.
- Cubs starter Javier Assad navigated traffic with the help of two double plays to hold the Dodgers to a single run, a Kyle Tucker solo homer in the second.
- The Dodgers dropped to 69-45 and are now 10-14 since July 3, with the source noting Skubal allowed just two hard-hit balls all night — the Swanson homer and an Alex Bregman double that right fielder Tucker nearly caught at the wall.
- Ryan Zeferjahn, recently acquired by Chicago, threw a spotless eighth inning for the Cubs bullpen in his appearance.
- The source frames Skubal's outing as encouraging overall, stating the biggest problem was a lack of offensive support rather than the pitcher's performance.
Why it matters: The Dodgers gave up significant prospect capital to land an ace-level arm at the trade deadline, so even a competent Skubal debut matters less than the surrounding reality: Los Angeles has now dropped five straight — a season high — and gone 10-14 since July 3, a stretch that threatens their seeding and the early return on their blockbuster deadline deal.
